Benchmark: timing 1000 iterations of merlyn, tye_1, tye_2...
merlyn:  
0 secs ( 0.54 usr +  0.00 sys =  0.54 CPU) @ 1851.85/s (n=1000)
tye_1:  
1 secs ( 0.65 usr +  0.00 sys =  0.65 CPU) @ 1538.46/s (n=1000)
tye_2:  
2 secs ( 1.58 usr +  0.00 sys =  1.58 CPU) @ 632.91/s (n=1000)